Boot spotting: 2nd January

And it’s the new year! Soccer Reviews’ boot spotting articles gained in strength in the tail end of last year, and we’re going to continue it into the new year. But what’s new with this year’s articles? The pictures have gone through a bit of a cosmetic change, but Soccer Reviews will be the first website on the net to give you your boot spotting mix each week. But for now, which spots made it through the strict Soccer Reviews’ boot spotting process?

Robin van Persie (Arsenal) – adidas Predator adiPower

It’s only fitting if we start our first boot spotting of 2012 with arguably the best EPL player from last year. RVP scored the winner against QPR as he registered his 35th goal of the season, which is one short of Alan Shearer’s all time record. Interestingly, the flying Dutchman has his own customised soleplate on his adiPowers, which is something that we haven’t seen on any other players. Thanks to David Bose for the boot spot!

Robert Huth (Stoke City) – Nike CTR360 Maestri II

When the Black/Volt CTR360 Maestri II was released, everyone fell in love with the boot that is the closest thing we’ll ever get to a full blackout CTR360 Maestri. Yet, bar Mario Balotelli, we havem’t seen a large player uptake of the boot. But Stoke’s towering German centreback Robert Huth is one of few professionals who have chosen what we believe could be a very, very early contender for the boot of 2012 (I guess we’d include it as 2012 anyway!)

Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham) – adidas micoach F50 adiZero and adidas Predator adiPower

While Benoit Assou-Ekoto wearing two different coloured adiPowers (the Blue/Electricity launch colourway and the White/Purple UCL colourway) throughout the season, which is strange enough within itself, what Benoit wore this week was even weirder. The Spurs fullback this week wore the Black/Orange F50 adiZero on his right foot and the Blue/Electricity adiPower on the left. I can safely say it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a player wear two different boot types on each boot, but could Assou-Ekoto be starting a new trend here?

Mohammad Diame (Wigan) – adidas adiPure IV

While you do see the occasional player wearing the adiPure IV, many often settle for the plain white/black colourway of the boot. It’s iconic, so we don’t see too many players in the Black/Volt colourway. We thought Real Madrid’s Jose Callejon was one of few players in the Black/Volt colourway in our boot spotting a few weeks ago, but we’ve now seen Diame also sporting the same colourway. It’s a nice match with his kit too!

Patrick Zwaanswijk (Central Coast Mariners) – Puma V1.11

There’s always a shroud of mystery when we see a pair of blackout boots, but it didn’t take us (or our Facebook community) to work out Zwaanswijk was wearing a blackout version of the Puma V1.11. The lace cover is a big hint that it’s the boot is the V1.11. But considering Zwaanswijk has worn V1.11 all year, it’s strange he’s suddenly worn a blackout version of the boot.

Ronaldo (Friends of Zico) – Nike Tiempo Legend Elite

Fenômeno made an appearence in a charity match last week that was organised by former Brazilian international Zico, as Ronaldo spearheaded the team with Neymar against the ‘Stars of Brazil’. Even though Ronaldo originally debuted the Tiempo IV last year, he pulled out the World Cup edition of the Tiempo Elite, which was the first Tiempo to feature both kangaroo leather on the toe of the boot and kanga-lite on the midfoot to reduce the weight of the boot.

Luke Brattan (Brisbane Roar) – Nike Tiempo Legend III

Despite the ever growing popularity of the Nike Tiempo Legend IV, there are a few stubborn players who aren’t willing to ditch their old Tiempo Legend IIIs. Luke Brattan is one of these players. Even though it may appear that he is wearing the Legend IV, the tongue of the boot has been tucked in underneath the laces.

Jermaine Pennant (Stoke City) – Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly III

While Cristiano Ronaldo has been wearing his new signature Mercurial for several weeks, he isn’t the only one wearing the boots as some players may be trying to replicate the Portugese star in the boots that he wears. While Pennant is wearing the colourway worn by Ronaldo, he isn’t wearing the exact same boot, as Ronaldo is wearing the upcoming Vapors disguised as Superfly IIIs.

David Linares (African and International) – Joma Total Fit

Another football game for charity, and yet another boot spot. This one comes from the Champions for Africa game held at Mestalla, with proceeds from the ticket sales going directly to UNICEF and the Kanuote Foundation in support of Africa. But French midfielder Linares boots are a Joma boot that we don’t think we’ve seen before. Perhaps they were boots made for the occasion or just customised for Linares, we aren’t really sure.

Naohiro Ishikawa (FC Tokyo) – adidas F50 adiZero (Custom)

There are instances where players aren’t really happy about the colourways offered by the companies. So instead, they go and make their own boot. While it looks a lot like some colourways we’ve seen in the past, Ishikawa customised his own adiZeros into a Silver/Blue/Green colourway. Ishikawa was a part of the victorious side that won the Japanese Emperor’s Cup this weekend.

That’s it for this week’s boot spotting. It’s only my 2nd time at attempting the close up pics, so if they don’t look very clear, I promise that I will improve when I start to do it more often! What was your favourite spot from this weekend’s action?